What are home based support services?
Home and Community Support Services (HCSS) help disabled people to live at home and include household management and personal care.
Household management may include help with:
• meal preparation
• washing, drying or folding clothes
• essential house cleaning, vacuuming and tidying up.
Personal care may include help with:
• eating or drinking
• getting dressed or undressed
• getting up in the morning or getting ready for bed
• showering or going to the toilet
• getting around your home.
Who can get home based support services?
People who:
• are under 65 years old, and
• meet Disability Services’ definition of being disabled, and
• have had a needs assessment that says they need home based support services to support them at home.
A person is required to be a Community Services Cardholder in order to receive household management. In the case of children with disabilities under the age of 16, where they are assessed as requiring this service, their parents/guardians are required to be Community Services Card holders in order to receive this service.
Access to a Community Services Card is based on income and family size (See Work and Income for further information).
How do I get home based support services?
First you will need to speak to a Needs Assessment Service Co-ordination (NASC) organisation. With you, the NASC will assess what support you need to live an everyday life. They will work with you to set goals and determine what kind of home and community support services you will need, paid for by Disability Services.
If you need home and community support services, the NASC will discuss with you whether this support is for household management, personal care, or for both, and how they will help you meet your goals. The NASC will also talk with you about which service providers in your area are able to provide you with a support worker. Where there is more than one provider in your area, you can chose which provider you would like to use.
You can have an advocate, carer or a member of your family/whanau/aiga with you while you are going through this process. For more information on the needs assessment process you can look at the NASC fact sheet available online
at www.moh.govt.nz/disability or there should be a copy available where you got this fact sheet.
What is a service provider and what will they do?
Service providers are contracted by Disability Services to provide home and community support services in different areas around the country. In some places, especially in rural areas, there will only be one service provider that you can use.
After you have chosen the service provider you want to use, the NASC will send information about you to them and a person from that service will contact you. The service provider will prepare an individual plan with you which may include things like:
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what you can do for yourself and what you need help with
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any things the support worker needs to know about your culture or the way you like to do things
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any things that the support worker needs to know about your home, for example if you have a dog
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what days or time of day you would prefer to have help. (Please note sometimes it may not be possible for a support worker to come at the exact time of day you would like. You can discuss this with the service provider).
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what support you absolutely must have, and what support can be flexible
There will be other things the service provider will discuss with you, and if you have any concerns or questions about the service they should be able to answer them for you. They should also tell you what to do if you want to make a complaint or if you are worried about the support you are receiving.
How can I get more information?
You can contact your local NASC which can be found online at www.moh.govt.nz/disability under contact details. Your doctor or other health professional should also be able to refer you to your local NASC.
You can also contact your local Disability Information Service (look in the phone book under ‘D’), or online at www.moh.govt.nz/disability under contact details (DIAS).
For more information on Disability Services, and the services we fund look online at www.moh.govt.nz/disability.
